Activists from the black leadership network Project 21 are praising
Senate leaders for their efforts to secure an up-or-down vote
on the nomination of California Supreme Court Justice Janice
Rogers Brown for a seat on the federal Circuit Court of Appeals
for the District of Columbia, along with votes on other judicial
nominees. While they have not formally taken a position on Justice
Brown's confirmation, Project 21 members consider Brown an excellent
judge.

"The straight up-or-down
vote on Justice Brown's nomination is humiliatingly long overdue,"
said Project 21 member Mychal Massie. "Janice Rogers Brown
epitomizes the greatness of America. Unlike any other country,
being born disadvantaged and poor, as she was, does not relegate
one to a lifetime of the same. Because of her hard work and self-discipline
- and the success it brought her - she should be hailed as a
role model of American achievement."

Justice Brown is the daughter
of an Alabama sharecropper who began her education in a segregated
school. Her family later moved to California where she earned
a law degree and spent the last 25 years in public service. After
serving in lower state courts, she was appointed to the California
Supreme Court in 1996. She was nominated to the D.C. Circuit
in July of 2003.

The nomination of Justice Brown
had previously been blocked by a filibuster organized by a minority
of detractors in the Senate. A recent reform of the Senate rules
aimed at stopping the abuse of the filibuster and allow nominees
to be considered in the full Senate in a fair and timely manner
is currently being employed to bring the Brown nomination up
for a confirmation vote.

Project 21 takes no position
on the confirmation of any particular judicial nominee, but believes
that it is in the best interest of the United States that judicial
vacancies be filled with appropriate speed.

Project 21, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization, has been
a leading voice of the African-American community since 1992.
For more information visit Project 21's website at http://www.project21.org/P21Index.html.